Vibratory discharger



Jan 1 7, 1950 Q ROUSE Q 2,494,584

VIBRATORY DISCHARGER Filed Aug. 12, 1946 3 Sheets-Sheet l r Il"'--' an r INVEJTOR CHARLES R. RousE /7 {M max, A M

Jan. 17, 1950 c. R. ROUSE 2,494,584

VIBRATORY DISCHARGER Filed Aug. 12 1946 I 3 Sheets-Sheet 2 INVENTOR CHARLES R.Rous|-:

Filed Aug. 12 1946 3 Shets-Sheet I5 INVENTOR CHARLES R.RousE Patented Jan. 17, 1950 VIBRATORY DISCHARGER Charles R. Rouse, Swissvale, Pa.; Helen M. Rouse administratrlx of said ceased Charles R. Rouse, de-

Application August 12, 1946, Serial No. 689.975 3 Claims. '(Cl. 214-44) This invention relates to vibratory dischargers for hopper bottom containers, and more especially to vibratory dischargers for railway hopper cars.

The invention has been developed and embodied in a vibratory discharger for railway hopper cars and will be describedwith particular reference thereto, although it is understood that the invention may otherwise be embodied in vibrators for hopper bottom containers.

Railway hopper cars are commonly used for transporting coal or the like. The material is discharged therefrom by opening the gates at the hopper bottoms and allowing the contents of the car to run out. While materials such as lump coal are readily discharged from hopper cars, many materials tend to cling to the inclined bottoms of the cars and must be dislodged. For example, wet slack coal and wet soft iron ore are difllcult to discharge from the railway hopper cars. While various suggestions have been made for vibrators to shake the sides and bottoms of railroad cars to discharge such material, the usual practice has been for men to get into the railroad car and push the contents to the discharge openings, requiring a considerable expenditure of man power and time. The object of the present invention is to produce a vibratory discharger which will satisfactorily loosen and discharge materials that are diflicult to dislodge from hopper bottom containers such as railway hopper cars.

In the drawings which illustrate the preferred embodiment of my invention,

Figure 1 is a side view of the railway hopper car showing my vibratory discharger mounted thereon;

Figure 2 is a plan view of the vibratory discharger;

Figure 3 is a vertical sectional view along the line III-III of Figure 2;

Figure 4 is a vertical section along the line IV-IV of Figure 2; and

Figure 5 is a vertical section along the line V-V of Figure 4.

Referring to the illustrated embodiment of the invention, my vibratory discharger comprises a bridge, indicated generally by reference character I, which is adapted to span transversely the top of a railway hopper car indicated at 2. The ends of the bridge are provided with channels or shoes 3 which are adapted to engage the tops of the sides 4 of the car. The channels 3 serve as a means for holding the vibrator on the tops of the car sides and to guide the vibrator along the tops of the car sides as the vibrator travels under its own power, as hereinafter described. While I prefer to use a channel 3 having flanges 5 and 6 extending down, inside and outside, of the top of the car side respectively, an angle having a single flange may be used, or any other arrangement which will serve to locate and hold the ends of the bridge upon the tops of the sides of the car, preferably so that the bridge is slidably guided along the tops of the car sides longitudinally of the car.

As hereinafter described, the vibratory motion imparted to the vibrator is such that the vibrator travels longitudinally of the car in one direction or the other, depending upon the rotation of the motor. In order to allow the bridge to travel longitudinally of the car, the end portions of the channels 3 are flanged upwardly, as indicated at 1, and outwardly, as indicated at 8 and 8', so that the channels will ride over and not be snagged by rivet heads or other projections along the car top.

The operating mechanism for the vibrator is carried on the bridge I and in the illustrated embodiment of the invention comprises two eccentrically loaded wheels 9 and I0, carried upon alined shafts II and II, which extend longitudinally of the bridge I and, therefore, transversely of the car, and which are rotated by means of an electric motor l3. As illustrated in the drawings and more particularly in Figures 3 and 4 of the drawings, each wheel 9 and It carries an eccentric loading in the form of weights l4. Four weights are shown as mounted on each wheel, two on each side, bolted to the wheel by bolts IS.

The wheel is provided with a number of bolt holes I l 6 so that the number of weights It can be varied. The weights are similarly located on each wheel, the weights being shown at the top of each wheel and in the same angular position with relation to the axis of rotation. This causes the eccentrically mounted weights to act in synchronism so that the vibrations imparted to the two ends of the bridge are in synchronism. In the vibratory unloader which I have had built for coal and are cars, the wheels are approximately 42 inches in diameter and the weights are about 30 pounds apiece, making a total weight of about pounds eccentric loading for each wheel. This vibratory unloader weighs about six tons and has proved powerful enough to unload wet slack coal and other difficultly dischargeable materials from all types of railway hopper cars.

The shafts II and II which carry the eccentrically loaded wheels 9 and III, are supported in bearings l1 which are rigidly carried on the bridge I. Two wheels are preferably employed,

3 each mounted substantially directly above one of the sides of the car so that the'vibratory thrust is transmitted directly to the sides of the car. However, if desired, a single wheel may be used, mounted near the middle of the bridge.

The shafts II and I2 are driven through flexible couplings l8 and 19 by a variable speed, reversible-electric motor l3 which is mounted at the middle of the bridge. The motor is preferable mounted as shown, upon a rubber pad 20 and is held down upon such pad by bolts 21. The electric current can be supplied from any suitable source through an electrical connection, not shown.

The vibrator is portable and is preferably transported and placed upon the top of a hopper car by means of a crane connected to the vibrator through chains 22 having hooks 23 received in holes 24 in the end plates 25 of the vibrator. A cover 26 is bolted over the top of the vibrator to shield and enclose the mechanism, and may be lifted by hooks and chains attached to the perforated ears 26' on the cover.

The bridge itself consists of a bottom plate 21 and side plates 28 welded together and to the ends of which are welded the end plates 25. The bridge is provided with stiffening braces 29. The bridge 2| and its associated mechanism form a rigid structure which, as shown, is lowered and rests directly upon the top of the car sides.

When the vibrator is operated, the rotation of the eccentrically loaded wheels 9 and I causes the vibrator to move or crawl longitudinally along the top of the car, as indicated by the arrow 30 in Figure l. The vibrator travels to the right, as shown in Figure 1, when the motor and wheels are rotated in the counterclockwise direction, as indicated by the arrow 3| in Figure 1. The direction of travel or crawl oi. the vibrator along the top of the car can be reversed by reversing the direction of rotation of the motor. The vibrator can be initially placed at the middle of the car shown in full lines in Figure 1 and the car vibrated so as to dislodge and discharge the middle of the load and then as the vibrator travels to one end of the car, that end of the car is vibrated and the load discharged as indicated by the chain line position in Figure 1. The motor can then be reversed and caused to travel to the other end of the car to dislodge any of the load clinging to the end hopper bottom of the other end 01' the car. An alternative operation is to place the vibrator initially at one end of the car and cause it to travel the entire length of the car on its initial travel. If the entire contents of the car are not discharged, the motor can be reversed and the vibrator caused to travel back over the length of the car in the reversed direction.

The motor is a relatively low speed, reversible motor. In the vibrator which I have had built, I employed a reversible motor having a speed range of 220480 R. P. M. I have found it important to employ a variable speed motor. Each hopper car appears to have a natural period of vibration or resonance in which the car can be swung bodily upon the spring mounting between the car and the wheels acting somewhat like a spring suspended weight. In operating the vibrator, the operator usually starts the motor at the lowest speed and increases the speed gradually to a point where the period of vibration of the vibrator corresponds to a natural period of vibration or resonance of the caras a whole. This results in a shaking of the car both vertically and longitudinally and is very effective in loosening the load. Each type of car appears to have its own natural period of resonance which in turn varies with the load in the car. The operator, by varying the speed of the motor, can pick out a period of resonance which is most effective for shaking the car. For most railway hopper cars, I have found that periods of resonance can be found between about 240 and 400 R. P. M. Such a period of vibration is much slower than that usually imparted by vibrators which have been suggested for shaking hopper bottom containers, but I have found such slower speed of vibration to be very effective in vibrating the car and the load as a body in loosening the coal and at the same time putting a minimum of strain upon the vibrator and the car structure. In case the vibration at a natural period of vibration of the car is insufficient to loosen all of the load, the speed of rotation of the motor can be increased to a point where the one side of the vibrator will be lifted bodily from the car and will be thrown up and down with a hammering action which pounds the top of the car side. As shown in Figure 1, if the motor is driven at a speed say of about 450 R. P. M. in the direction shown by the arrow 3|, the right-hand side of the vibrator will be actually raised from the car at each revolution of the motor and forcibly driven down against the top of the car with a hammering action.

The variable speed of the motor makes possible the more gentle swinging or vibrating of the car in its natural period of vibration, which is usually suflicient to loosen the load, coupled with ability to actually lift the one side of the vibrator from the top of the car and get a hammering action, if this is required to loosen the load.

The action of the vibrator can be varied by increasing the number of weights on each wheel by adding more weights. The lifting and hammering vibrator can be thus secured at a slower speed than with the fewer weights. I have found for the average operation upon a usual railway hopper car, that four weights per wheel are about right.

As statedv above, these weights are placed in the same angular position upon each wheel so that they act in synchronism and the vibrations as imparted by each end of the bridge are likewise in synchronism. I have found that this is very advantageous in imparting a swinging movement to the car in its own natural period of vibration and also when the motor is driven at a higher speed to get a hammering action so that the hammer blows are delivered in unison to both sides of the car.

Since the vibrator is rigidly mounted on the bridge, which in turn is directly carried by the tops of the car sides, the vibrating action is directly applied to the car. The vibration applied to the car is a circular vibratory motion having components which are vertical and also longitudinally of the car. The inclined bottoms of the hoppers are, therefore, subjected to vibration having a component at right angles to the inclined bottom and another component longitudinally of the inclined bottom. I have found that such vibration, which is applied by having the axis of rotation of the eccentrically loaded vibrator wheels transversely of the car, to be the most effective. It not only very effectively dislodges the material which may cling to the inclined bottoms of hoppers, but also secures the travel 76 of the vibrator longitudinally of the car so that the various portions of the car may each be subjected directly to the vibratory action.

While I have specifically illustrated and described the preferred embodiment of my invention, it is to be understood that the invention may be embodied and practiced within the scope of the following claims.

I claim:

1. The combination with a resiliently supported bottom discharge container, of a bridge structure transversely, arched across the top of the container, shoes positioned beneath the opposite ends of the bridge structure to rest the weight of the latter on the tops of the container side walls, said bridge structure having supports carried thereby, an unbalanced mass positioned adjacent each end portion of the bridge structure for rotation about a common axis extending lengthwise of the bridge structure and thereby transversely of the container, means for rotatably supporting the unbalanced masses on said supports, a prime mover mounted on the bridge structure for rotating the unbalanced masses in unison at, a speed sufficient to cause the unbalanced weight of the rotating masses to forcibly raise and lower one side of the bridge structure relative to the tops of the container side walls during each revolution of the masses to apply a rapid succession of ham mer blows to said side walls through said end shoes, means for resiliently supporting the prime mover on the bridge structure to dampen the transmission of vibrations from the bridge structure to the prime mover and flexible drive means between the resiliently supported prime mover and the unbalanced masses.

2. The combination with a resiliently supported bottom discharge container, of a bridge structure transversely arched across the top 01 the container, shoes positioned beneath the opposite ends of the bridge structure to rest the weight of the latter on the tops of the container side walls, said bridge structure having supports carried thereby, alined bearings mounted on said supports, shaft means journaled in said bearings to extend longitudinally of the bridge structure and thereby transversely of the container, an unbalanced mass mounted on the shaft means adjacent each end portion of the bridge structure a prime mover mounted on the bridge structure for rotating the unbalanced masses in unison at a speed suflicient to cause the unbalanced weight of the rotating masses to forcibly raise and lower one side of the bridgestructurerelativetothetopsofthecontainer side walls during each revolution of the masses to apply a rapid succession of hammer blows to said side walls through said end shoes, means for resiliently supporting the prime mover on the bridge structure to dampen the transmission of vibrations from the bridge structure to the prime mover, and flexible drive means between the resiliently supported prime mover and the shaft means.

3. The combination with a resiliently supported bottom discharge container, of a. bridge structure extending transversely across the top of the container, shoes positioned beneath the opposite ends of the bridge structure to rest the weight of the latter on the tops of the container side walls, said bridge structure having supports carried thereby, an unbalanced mass positioned on the bridge structure for rotation about an axis extending lengthwise of the bridge structure and thereby transversely of the container, means for rotatably supporting the unbalanced mass on said supports, a prime mover mounted on the bridge structure for rotating the unbalanced mass at a speed suflicient to cause the unbalanced weight of the rotating mass to forcibly raise and lower one side of the bridge structure relative to the tops of the container side walls during each revolution of the mass to apply a rapid succession of hammer blows to said side walls through said end shoes, means for resiliently supporting the prime mover on the bridge structure to dampen the transmission of vibrations from the bridge structure to the prime mover, and flexible drive means between the resiliently supported prime mover and the unbalanced mass.

CHARLES R. ROUSE.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name 7 Date 1,943,076 Jackson Jan. 9, 1934 1,988,316 Jackson Jan. 15, 1935 2,033,747 Walker Mar. 10, 1936 2,229,037 Boldman Jan. 21, 1941 2,333,041 Poulter Oct. 26, 1943 FOREIGN PATENTS Number Country Date 767,378 France July 17, 1934 

